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Martin Brodeur and the suddenly revived New Jersey Devils took advantage of the absence of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-0, last night in Newark.

Brodeur had a relatively easy night, stopping 23 shots in posting his fourth shutout of the season and the NHL regular-season record 114th of his career.

Brian Rolston and rookie Nick Palmieri scored for the Devils, who have points in a season-high five straight games (4-0-1). The loss snapped the Penguins’ three-game winning streak and was only their sixth loss in 23 road games (14-6-3).

The Devils’ current streak started when Brodeur took back the starting job from Johan Hedberg. During that span, the 38-year-old has allowed 10 goals and the offense has responded with 20.

The Penguins didn’t offer much resistance with Crosby and Malkin sidelined in the same regular-season game for the first time since the 2006-07 season, Malkin’s rookie year.

Crosby has missed seven straight games because of a concussion. The Penguins did not say what was wrong with Malkin, but his left knee has been bothering him.

Brodeur’s best saves came in the third period. He stopped a backhand attempt by Jordan Staal on Pittsburgh’s only power play early and close-in attempts by Chris Conner and Aaron Asham in the final six minutes.

Rolston gave Brodeur the only goal he would need when he scored on New Jersey’s first shot of the game against Brent Johnson, who was making his first start since Jan. 6.

Flyers 6, Senators 2 — Mike Richards scored twice, Chris Pronger had an assist in his return from a broken foot, and host Philadelphia beat Ottawa in a fight-filled game.

Philadelphia has skated to the top of the Eastern Conference standings without Pronger, who was back on the blue line five weeks after breaking his right foot. Pronger, the 2000 NHL MVP with St. Louis, was injured Dec. 15 against Montreal and missed 13 games.

The game turned nasty in the third period with the Flyers in control. There was plenty of pushing and punching after a quiet first two periods. The ice was littered with helmets and sticks — there were two simultaneous fights late in the game.

Red Wings 4, Blues 3 — Darren Helm scored at 1:51 of overtime to give Detroit the victory at St. Louis, which has lost seven of nine.

Jimmy Howard stopped 26 shots in his return after missing two games because of a bruised right kneecap, and Patrick Eaves, Todd Bertuzzi and Jakub Kindl scored in regulation for Detroit. The Red Wings blew a three-goal lead before rebounding to end a three-game road losing streak.

Capitals 2, Islanders 1 — Alex Ovechkin assisted on goals by Jason Chimera and Nicklas Backstrom, and rookie Braden Holtby made 24 saves in his return from the minors to lift Washington in Uniondale, N.Y.

Ovechkin had the primary assist on Chimera’s first-period goal and Backstrom’s tally in the second that put Washington ahead, 2-0. It was a rare feat for the Capitals, who had recently been saving all their offense for third periods.

Sergei Kostitsyn, Cody Franson, Matt Halischuk, David Legwand and Colin Wilson scored for the surging Predators, who have won nine of 11. Rinne came up big all night, but his shutout bid ended when Matt Duchene scored with 3:37 remaining.

Stars 4, Oilers 2 — Jamie Benn had a goal and an assist and Kari Lehtonen made 30 saves in Dallas’s victory in Edmonton.

Mike Ribeiro, James Neal, and Adam Burish — into an empty net with a second left — also scored for Dallas. The Pacific Division-leading Stars are 7-0-1 in January and 29-13-5 overall.

Lightning 3, Thrashers 2 — NHL goals leader Steven Stamkos scored twice in regulation and Dominic Moore won it in the shootout, leading Tampa Bay to its 10th straight win over host Atlanta.